Legacy ImageMagick Discussions Archive

ImageMagick 6.2.6-1 Beta permits you to get the precombined layer in PSD images with this option:

• -define psd:precombined-layer

ImageMagick 6.2.6-1 is available here: [url]ftp://ftp..imagemagick.org/pub/ImageMagick/beta[/url]. ImageMagick 6.2.6-1 will be officially released in the next week or two.

We had to remove the predefined layers patch just before release because it was causing problems with some PSD images and was not tested properly. We will need more time to investigate this problem and come up with a robust solution. In the mean-time it should work properly now just reading the image layers. Give it a try using ImageMagick 6.2.6-1 and see if you get reasonable results (use -flatten to create the image we think you want).

There is an ImageMagick ChangeLog available here: http://magick.imagemagick.org/script/changelog.php.

We'll take another look at the problem this weekend and get back to you.

Yes we did. We discovered that we need the PSD format specification if there is any hope of enhancing PSD support within ImageMagick. The original PSD coder was contributed and the author is no longer available and the only documentation we have is from the Encylopedia fo Graphics Format which is far from complete. If you have access to the PSD format specification, pass it onto us and we will attempt to enhance PSD support within ImageMagick.

Thanks. We have a few issues to resolve before we can get to PSD buts its high on the list of priorities.

A patch will be available tommorrow in ImageMagick 6.2.7-0 Beta. We restored the behavior such that the first image will always be the pre-combined layer.

We still have not gotten the Photoshop image specification. As soon as we have a copy we'll start on improving the support for PSD images within ImageMagick.

The Photoshop image format specification requires the Advanced Photoshop SDK which requires we sign a license with Adobe. The license says the API and documentation is confidential and that we can't disclose it. Which basically means we can't use the Adobe SDK for improving ImageMagick PSD support without putting ourselves and ImageMagick users at risk of violating the Adobe license. Until this problem is resolved, we cannot make further improvements to PSD support within ImageMagick.

Its a different story if you implement code for personal use, but if you put it in an open source project we need to be diligent that we're not violating any licenses, patents, or copyrights. We're in discussions with Adobe now to get the latest PSD file format specification and to get an exemption from their license to use PSD within ImageMagick. Not sure when we'll hear back from them but when we do we'll make an announcement.